Toronto Mayor John Tory unveils Raptors Way sign ahead of season opener

Ahead of the defending champions’ home opener on Tuesday night, a new street sign was officially unveiled by the team’s mascot and Toronto Mayor John Tory.

The sign was unveiled at a pre-game celebration outside Scotiabank Arena at Jurassic Park, the designated fan zone for Raptors fans.

"We had to fix it because it sounded kind of lame to say you could go down to Jurassic Park at Bremner Boulevard,” Tory told a crowd gathered for the celebration. “We couldn’t put Jurassic Park up there because tourists may think they will be eaten by dinosaurs. So what we did was renamed this part of the street, it’s Bremner Boulevard, but it’s also Raptors Way.”

Tory said earlier in the day that the sign is going to be permanent.

Inside the arena, fans witnessed the raising of the championship banner to the rafters, as well as championship rings being handed out to players, coaches and front office staff.

Point-guard Kyle Lowry took centre court to countdown the unveiling of the championship banner.

“Such a special night,” he said to a roaring crowd inside the Scotiabank Arena. “We want to thank all you fans in this great City of Toronto and this country of Canada. We wouldn’t have been able to do this without you guys.”